City Reaches Surrounding Community Agreement with Mohegan Sun

Mayor Rob Dolan announced Tuesday morning that the City of Melrose has reached a Surrounding Community Agreement with Mohegan Sun at Suffolk Downs that will provide a number of benefits to Melrose, including a $50,000 annual impact payment once Mohegan’s proposed gaming establishment is open, according to a city press statement.

“Melrose is pleased to have entered into a Surrounding Community Agreement with Mohegan Sun at Suffolk Downs,” Dolan said in the statement. “The benefits of this agreement with the City of Melrose, along with the clear regional benefits of expanded employment, purchasing, and increased revenues for local businesses and municipalities, will be a much-needed boost to our regional economy. As we embark on this new era of expanded gaming in Massachusetts, Mohegan Sun has given Melrose a seat at the table.”

The agreement includes the following:

• An annual Community Impact Payment of $50,000, commencing when the gaming establishment opens.
• Participation in Mohegan’s “points program” to encourage customers to visit local Melrose businesses
• Access to the Community Mitigation Fund established under the Gaming Act giving Melrose the ability to seek additional funding to offset any impacts Mohegan’s project will have.
• Access to Mohegan Sun’s compulsive gambling counseling services
• A commitment from Mohegan to use its best effort to purchase $50 million of services annually from businesses within 15 miles of Revere City Hall.
• A commitment from Mohegan to use its best effort to hire 75 percent of its permanent work force from within the same area.

Mohegan Sun is one of two casino operators that has applied for a Category 1 gaming license to operate a casino in the greater Boston area, reads the statement. Melrose is currently in negotiations with Wynn Resorts, the other applicant for the license, adds the statement.

“Regardless of how you feel about gaming in Massachusetts, gaming is the law of the Commonwealth, and it is critical that Melrose prepare itself for this new era,” said Dolan in the statement. “A great deal of work was done by our Legal and Planning departments to advocate for Melrose’s interests, now and in the future. I would also like to thank former City Solicitor John Cinella for his assistance in giving us some of the history of the bordering site from studies that were completed in the 1980s.”